Bill pay systems are widely used by customers of financial institutions to schedule recurring payments to various recipients. A typical bill pay system allows a customer to schedule and keep track of payments to numerous recipients using a single web site, with a single login. The payments may be one time payments or recurring. Usually customers can make payments to any recipient that they would otherwise be able to make a payment to with a check. If the bill pay system is administered by a financial institution, it may provide the option of making payments from multiple accounts of that financial institution (e.g. checking, savings, credit card, home equity line of credit, personal line of credit, and the like). Bill pay allows customers the ability to make payments that are guaranteed to be sent on time and without delay.
Financial institutions that extend loans and lines of credit to customers often track the behavior of customers. For example, a financial institution may keep track of how many times a customer has made late payments on a line of credit associated with a credit card, or how many times a customer has not paid the outstanding balance of a credit card account. These types of actions may indicate to the financial institution that the customer has a high risk profile, or is at a high risk of defaulting on their credit or performing some other objectionable action. In response to such events, financial institutions may contact customers in order to incentivize them to make their payments on time and in full. Often times, financial institutions may unnecessarily contact customers even when they are going to make their upcoming payment(s) on time. In difficult economic times, financial institutions attempt to reduce as much of the credit and default risk associated with customers as possible.